jonathan hunt takes a look back at this extraordinary life. >> reporter: when nelson mandela walked free from prison on february 11, 1990, he knew, as did the rest of the world, that white domination in south africa was about to end. he had fought apartheid since 1948, campaigning peacefully at first, then advocating and taking part in violent resistance. in 1964, he was sentenced to life with hard labor and sent to the notorious robin island prison. world wide protests against the apartheid regime quickly gathered pace. ♪ ♪ and nelson mandela became the most famous political prisoner on the planet. within months of his 1990 release, he was holding peace talks with south africa's then president and in april 1994, with apartheid abolished, nelson mandela became president himself after south africa's first all race elections. >> i have fought a very firmly. i have fought very firmly against this. i cherish the idea for south africa where all south africans are equal. >> reporter: nelson mandela served just one five-year term, but remained perhaps the most influential figure in south af